ALBERT

Notes: The luminescence properties of 3 μm thick, strongly emitting, and highly porous silicon films were studied using a combination of photoluminescence, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Transmission electron micrographs indicate that these samples have structures of predominantly 6–7 nm size clusters (instead of the postulated columns). In the as-prepared films, there is a significant concentration of Si—H bonds which is gradually replaced by Si—O bonds during prolonged aging in air. Upon optical excitation these films exhibit strong visible emission peaking at ≈690 nm. The excitation edge is shown to be emission wavelength dependent, revealing the inhomogeneous nature of both the initially photoexcited and luminescing species. The photoluminescence decay profiles observed are highly nonexponential and decrease with increasing emission energy. The 1/e times observed typically range from 1 to 50 μs. The correlation of the spectral and structural information suggests that the source of the large blue shift of the visible emission compared to the bulk Si band gap energy is likely to be due to quantum confinement in the nanometer size Si clusters. The electron-hole recombination process, on the other hand, remains unclear.

Notes: The resolution of optical microscopy can be extended beyond the diffraction limit by placing a source or detector of visible light having dimensions much smaller than the wavelength, λ, in the near-field of the sample (〈λ/10). This technique, near-field scanning optical microscopy, is sensitive to a variety of important sample properties including optical density, refractive index, luminescence, and birefringence. Although image contrast based on certain sample characteristics is similar to that observed in traditional optical microscopy, strong coupling between the probe and sample often produces contrast unique to the near-field.

Notes: The effect of the ambient conditions in the growth chamber of the molecular beam epitaxy machine during the growth of GaAs/Al0.35Ga0.65As structures was investigated. Both growth-interrupted (120 s at each heterointerface) and uninterrupted surfaces and interfaces were evaluated using a growth temperature of 580 °C. Two ambient conditions were studied: (a) ∼1×10−10 Torr O2; and (b) ultrahigh vacuum (UHV, ∼5×10−11 Torr, with no intentional introduction of contaminants). A striking difference was observed in both the 1.7 K photoluminescence (PL) spectra of single quantum well (SQW) structures and UHV scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of surfaces, which were grown under ambient condition (a) as opposed to (b). When consecutive growth-interrupted SQW samples were grown with different well widths (25 and 28 A(ring)) under condition (a), the emission energy splitting into several peaks was observed, indicating discrete thicknesses of the well. However, the peak energies shifted as the laser spot was scanned across each sample. Additionally, the peak energy shifted from sample to sample for the same nominal well width.On the other hand, when SQW samples were grown under condition (b), no variation in the emission energy was observed as the laser was scanned across the sample, or from sample to sample for a given well width. Furthermore, the PL observations are supported by UHV-STM results. UHV-STM images indicated a very rough surface with large islands containing small terraces on top (a bimodal distribution) for condition (a). Conversely, when samples were grown under condition (b), only large islands were observed. For growth interrupted GaAs surfaces, 400 A(ring)×600 A(ring) islands were observed, and for Al0.35Ga0.65As, they were 150 A(ring)×400 A(ring), with a one-monolayer step in between islands. These data are consistent with abrupt interfaces with only a single-mode distribution for growth-interrupted surfaces. On the other hand, UHV-STM images of uninterrupted GaAs surfaces grown under condition (b) showed islands that were 40–60 A(ring) across. Photoluminesce spectra of a similarly grown SQW sample showed only a single broad emission line, consistent with an interface configuration of many steps which are smaller than the exciton diameter. The results show that interface roughness is sensitive to background O2.

Notes: We measured the forward current-voltage characteristics of self-electro-optic effect devices (SEED). These devices consist of p-i-n diodes where the i region is a GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs (x∼0.3) multiple-quantum-well structure. It is found that the diode current varies as exp(qV/2 kT) and that it also scales with the junction perimeter for diodes of different mesa sizes, indicating nonradiative surface recombination at the mesa sidewalls. We also measured minority-carrier lifetimes from photoluminescence decay experiments. They revealed that the recombination rate increases with decreasing mesa size, once again indicating that surface recombination at the mesa sidewalls limits carrier lifetime. A value of 6×105 cm s−1 for the surface recombination velocity for the sidewalls is determined. The implication of the nonradiative surface recombination at the mesa sidewalls is that it undermines the performance of the SEED as the mesa size decreases by reducing the photocurrent, thereby leading to higher bistability voltage threshold and hence higher switching energy.

Notes: The resonance Raman spectrum of 45(+−3) A(ring) diameter CdSe clusters was measured. The incident photons were resonant with the HOMO–LUMO transition in the clusters. At low temperature, one mode at 205 cm−1 is observed, as well as two overtones, with the integrated areas under these peaks in the ratio of 9:3:1. This mode is assigned as the longest wavelength longitudinal optical vibration of the cluster. The strength of the coupling between the lowest electronic excited state and the LO vibration is found to be 20 times weaker in these clusters than in the bulk solid. The CdSe cluster resonance Raman spectrum is shown to be consistent with the recently measured homogeneous cluster absorption spectrum.

Notes: The pressure dependence of the HOMO–LUMO transition energy and the frequency of the longest wavelength longitudinal optical vibration of 45 A(ring) diameter CdSe clusters in methanol–ethanol solution have been measured up to 50 Kbar. The LO mode shifts to higher frequency at a rate of 0.43 cm−1/Kbar, which corresponds to a Grüneisen parameter of 1.1. The HOMO–LUMO transition shifts to higher energy at 4.5 meV/Kbar, yielding a deformation potential of 2.3 eV. The pressure dependence of these properties closely resemble those of the corresponding bulk solid, confirming the point of view that the lattice properties of these clusters resemble those of the bulk, even though the optical properties are quite distinct.

Notes: This article investigates steady-state nonequilibrium conditions in metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. Steady-state nonequilibrium conditions are of significant interest due to the advent of wide-gap semiconductors in the arena of MOS (or metal–insulator–semiconductor) devices and due to the scaling of oxide thickness in Si technology. Two major classes of steady-state nonequilibrium conditions were studied both experimentally and theoretically: (i) steady-state deep depletion and (ii) steady-state low level optical generation. It is found that the identification and subsequent understanding of steady-state nonequilibrium conditions is of significant importance for correct interpretation of electrical measurements such as capacitance–voltage and conductance–voltage measurements. Basic implications of steady-state nonequilibrium conditions were derived for both MOS capacitors with low interfaces state density Dit and for oxide semiconductor interfaces with a pinned Fermi level. Further, a photoluminescence power spectroscopy technique is investigated as a complementary tool for direct-gap semiconductors to study Dit and to monitor the interface quality during device fabrication. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Single GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs quantum wells, grown by molecular beam epitaxy with growth interruptions at each interface, are investigated using low-temperature photoluminescence. The three clearly resolved photoluminescence peaks are attributed to discrete monolayer thicknesses of the well. The splitting of the peaks is investigated for several hundred points across a 2 in. wafer. The negligible variation of the peak splitting is consistent with abrupt interfaces in the growth direction, atomically smooth interfaces, and discrete thicknesses of the quantum well with changes of only integer multiples of monolayers.

Notes: High quality AlxGa1−xAs has been grown by low-pressure (30 Torr) organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) using a novel precursor, trimethylamine alane (TMAAl), as the aluminum source. The epilayers exhibited featureless surface morphology, very strong room-temperature photoluminescence (PL), and excellent compositional uniformity (x=0.235±0.002 over a 40 mm diameter). The residual carbon incorporation, which determined the background doping, depended largely upon the choice of gallium precursor. Using triethylgallium, carbon incorporation could be largely suppressed ([C](very-much-less-than)1016 cm−3). The carbon-related emission intensity was less than the bound exciton emission in low-temperature (1.6 K) PL even at excitation powers as low as 50 μW cm−2. By sharp contrast, the use of trimethylgallium led to much higher C concentrations (2–5×1017cm−3). Under appropriate conditions, therefore, the use of TMAAl produces extremely high purity AlGaAs of superior quality to AlGaAs grown using conventional precursors.